Article disposition apparatus

ABSTRACT

An article disposition apparatus capable of disposing articles such as ICs at any arbitrary disposition pitch by a simple arrangement in a time efficient manner. The article disposition apparatus according to the present invention comprises a stainless steel belt for transferring articles, a sensor for sensing the passing of the articles transferred by the stainless steel belt, a plurality of adsorption devices disposed each other at a predetermined pitch in the direction of transfer carried out by the stainless steel belt for holding the articles transferred by the stainless steel belt, respectively, and a control circuit for controlling a plurality of the adsorption devices so that the articles being transferred are held by a plurality of the adsorption devices in response to the passing of the articles sensed by the sensor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an article disposition apparatus for disposing a plurality of articles at a predetermined pitch.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, ICs are subjected to various treatments such as a high temperature treatment and the like and various tests such as a durability test and the like in the manufacturing process thereof. ICs must be transferred to a board having a structure and a disposition pitch suitable for each treatment according to the size of an apparatus for carrying out a treatment and the like and whether an electric signal must be applied to the ICs or not in order to effectively manufacture the ICs. Further, when a type of ICs to be handled is different, a suitable disposition pitch of a board is necessarily changed according to the size and the like of the ICs. Thus, ICs are usually accommodated in a general-purpose IC accommodating unit, then a plurality of the ICs are taken out from the IC accommodating unit before they are subjected to each treatment and the like and disposed and accommodated in a board suitable for the treatment and the type of the ICs.

FIG. 15 shows a conventional article disposition apparatus for disposing and accommodating a plurality of ICs. The article disposition apparatus is arranged such that ICs 21 are taken out from an IC accommodation unit 4 and accommodated in the sockets 18 of a board 17. The IC accommodation unit 4 is a general-purpose device and accommodates a plurality of the ICs 21 at a first disposition pitch P1. Whereas, the board 17 is, for example, a burn-in board for a high temperature treatment, made to be suited for the size and the like of the treatment unit of a not shown high temperature treatment apparatus and has a disposition pitch P2 different from the disposition pitch P1 of the IC accommodation unit 4.

A structure of the article disposition apparatus shown in FIG. 15 will be described. A pair of linear receiving blocks 7 are disposed in parallel to each other at a predetermined interval and a transfer block 5 is disposed between the receiving blocks 7. The transfer block 5 is disposed so that it can be moved along the receiving blocks 7 by a feed motor 6 and a pair of the receiving blocks 7 are disposed so that they can be moved upward and downward by upward/downward cylinders 8 provided to the lower portions at the both ends of the receiving blocks 7. The transfer block 5 has a plurality of IC holding units 5a formed at the same pitch as the disposition pitch P2 of the sockets 18 of the board 17 in which the ICs 21 having been disposed are intended to be accommodated on the upper surface thereof.

An adsorption unit 1 for adsorbing and holding the IC 21 and movement motors 2 and 3 for moving the adsorption unit 1 in X- and Y-directions on a horizontal plan are disposed above an end of the transfer block 5 and the receiving blocks 7, whereas a multi-adsorption unit 9 is disposed above the other end thereof. The multi-adsorption unit 9 has a plurality of adsorption heads disposed at the same disposition pitch as the disposition pitch P2 of the sockets 18 of the board 17 so that the multi-adsorption unit 9 can simultaneously adsorbs and holds a plurality of the ICs 21 on the transfer block 5. Further, the multi-adsorption unit 9 can be moved upward and downward by an upward/downward cylinder 10 as well as can be moved in a horizontal direction by a feed motor 11. A positioning block 12 is disposed in the vicinity of the multi-adsorption unit 9 to position the ICs 21.

Next, operation will be described. First, the adsorption unit 1 is moved by the movement motors 2 and 3 so that one of the ICs 21 is adsorbed and held by the adsorption unit 1 from the IC accommodation unit 4 and placed on the IC holding unit 5a at an end of the transfer block 5.

Next, the feed motor 6 is driven and moves the transfer block 5 in the direction of the other end of the receiving blocks 7 by the distance equal to the disposition pitch P2 of the IC holding unit 5a. Thereafter the upward/downward cylinders 8 are driven and lift a pair of the receiving blocks 7 upward so that the IC 21 held by the transfer block 5 is held by the receiving blocks 7 and floated from the IC holding unit 5a. The feed motor 6 is driven in this state and returns the transfer block 5 to an original position and then the upward/downward cylinders 8 are driven and lower the receiving blocks 7 to an original position. With this operation, the IC 21 placed on one of the IC holding unit 5a of the transfer block 5 is moved onto the adjacent IC holding unit 5a.

A plurality of the ICs 21 accommodated in the accommodation unit 4 are successively disposed on the transfer block 5 by repeating the above operation. Then, when the ICs 21 are placed up to the IC holding unit 5a at the other end of the transfer block 5, the upward-downward cylinder 10 is driven and lowers the multi-adsorption unit 9 so that a plurality of the ICs 21 (six pieces in the example shown by FIG. 15) on the transfer block 5 are adsorbed to and held by the multi-adsorption unit 9. Thereafter, the feed motor 11 is driven and moves the multi-adsorption unit 9 just above the positioning block 12 so that a plurality of the ICs 21 held by the adsorption unit 9 are fallen into the respective corresponding positioning grooves 13 of the positioning block 12.

A plurality of the ICs 21 positioned as described above are adsorbed to and held by the adsorption unit 9 again and then simultaneously accommodated in the corresponding IC sockets 18 on the board 17 placed beside the positioning block 12. In FIG. 15, numeral 14 denotes a lid opening/closing jig for opening and closing the lids of the sockets 18 on the board 17, the jig 14 being disposed to be able to be moved in the vicinity of the board 17 by a feed motor 15 and an upward/downward cylinder 16.

As described above, in order to dispose again the ICs 21 from the accommodation unit 4 having the disposition pitch P1 onto the board 17 having the disposition pitch P2, the ICs 21 must be taken out from the accommodation unit 4 one by one and supplied to the transfer block 5 and further the transfer block 5 and the receiving blocks 7 must be moved many times to successively feed the ICs 21 to the multi-adsorption unit 9 on the transfer block 5. Consequently, a problem arises in that a time is consumed for the disposition.

Further, when a pitch is to be changed after the disposition of the ICs, the transfer block 5 and the multi-adsorption unit 9 must be changed to a transfer block and a multi-adsorption unit each having a pitch corresponding to the changed pitch. Thus, a problem also arises in that a setup changing job is time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention made to solve the aforesaid problems is to provide an article disposition apparatus capable of arranging a plurality of articles at a high speed at a desired pitch.

A article disposition apparatus according to the present invention comprises transfer means for transferring articles, sensing means for sensing the passing of the articles transferred by the transfer means, a plurality of holding means disposed each other at a predetermined pitch in the direction of transfer carried out by the transfer means for holding the articles transferred by the transfer means, respectively, and control means for controlling a plurality of the holding means so that the articles being transferred are held by a plurality of the holding means in response to the passing of the articles sensed by the sensing means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an article disposition apparatus according to an embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an adsorption unit used in the embodiment 1;

FIG. 3 FIG. 5 are views showing a portion where the adsorption unit of FIG. 2 is mounted, respectively;

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are cross sectional views showing an internal structure of the adsorption unit used in the embodiment 1, respectively;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a correction unit used in the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a front view showing an operating state of the correction unit of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are perspective views showing a main portion of an article disposition apparatus according to embodiments 2 and 3, respectively;

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are front views showing a holding unit in embodiments 4 and 5, respectively;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an IC disposition apparatus according to an embodiment 6; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a conventional article disposition apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 shows an article disposition apparatus according to an embodiment 1 of the present invention. Transfer means for transferring articles is composed of a stainless steelbelt 25 and a motor 26 for driving the belt 25. When ICs 21, for example, are placed on the stainless steel belt 25 being driven as the articles, the ICs 21 are transferred in the state that they are placed on the stainless steel belt 25. The motor 26 has an encoder 27 mounted thereon which is capable of detecting an rpm of the motor 26, i.e. an amount of movement of the stainless steel belt 25.

A first adsorption unit 24, on which a plurality of adsorption devices 23a, 23b, 23c . . . are mounted to adsorb and hold the ICs 21, respectively, is disposed on the upstream side with respect to the transfer carried out by the stainless steel belt 25. The first adsorption unit 24 constitutes supply means of the present invention and can be moved by a not shown moving unit in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the stainless steel belt 25 is transferred.

A correction unit 28 is disposed at the central portion of the stainless steel belt 25 to center the ICs 21 having been transferred thereto to the center in the width direction of the stainless steel belt 25. A first sensor 29 is disposed on the upstream side of the correction unit 28 to sense the ICs 21 on the stainless steel belt 25. When the first sensor 29 senses the IC 21, the correction unit 28 is driven in response to a signal from the sensor 29 so that a position of the IC 21 is corrected to the center in the width direction of the stainless steel belt 25.

A second sensor 30 is disposed on the downstream side of the correction unit 28 with respect to the transfer carried out by the stainless steel belt 25 to sense the passing of the ICs 21 on the stainless steel belt 25. The second sensor 30 constitutes sensing means of the present invention.

A second adsorption unit 32, on which a plurality of adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . are mounted to adsorb and hold the ICs 21 having been transferred thereto by the stainless steel belt 25, respectively, is disposed on the further downstream side of the second sensor 30. The adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . are located away from the second sensor 30 by distances Sa, Sb, Sc . . . in the direction in which the stainless steel belt 25 is transferred and form a plurality of holding means which are disposed each other at a predetermined pitch. The second adsorption unit 32 can be moved by a not shown moving unit in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the stainless steel belt 25 is transferred.

An air source 33 is connected to the first adsorption unit 24 and the second adsorption unit 25 to suck the air in the respective adsorption devices thereof. The air source 33 is controlled by a control circuit 34 connected to the encoder 27 and the second sensor 30. The first sensor 29 and the correction unit 28 are also connected to the control circuit 34.

Next, operation of the embodiment 1 will be described. First, an accommodation unit 4 in which a plurality of the ICs 21 are accommodated is placed in the vicinity of the first adsorption unit 24. Note, the disposition pitch of the adsorption devices 23a, 23b, 23c . . . of the first adsorption unit 24 is preset to the same value as that of the disposition pitch of a plurality of the ICs 21accommodated in the accommodation unit 4. The adsorption unit 24 is moved by the not shown moving unit and the air in the respective adsorption devices of the adsorption unit 24 is sucked by the air source 33 so that a plurality of ICs 21 disposed in a low and accommodated in the accommodation unit 4 are simultaneously adsorbed to and held by the adsorption devices 23a, 23b, 23c . . .

The adsorption unit 24 is moved above the stainless steel belt 25, where the suction of the air in the first adsorption device 23a is stopped by the air source 33. As a result, the IC 21 held by the adsorption device 23a is placed on the stainless steel belt 25 being driven and transferred to the downstream side in the state that it is placed on the stainless steel belt 25. Next, the IC 21 is removed from the second adsorption device 23b of the adsorption unit 24 and placed on the stainless steel belt 25. In the same manner, the ICs 21 are successively removed from a plurality of the adsorption devices of the adsorption unit 24 and placed on the stainless steel belt 25, respectively.

When the IC 21 having been transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 is sensed by the first sensor 29, the control circuit 34 drives the correction unit 28 at a time when the IC 21 is supposed to arrive at the center of the correction unit 28. With this operation, a position of the IC 21 is corrected to the center in the width direction of the stainless steel belt 25. Whether the IC 21 arrives at the center of the correction unit 28 or not can be determined by, for example, counting the pulses generated from the encoder 27 connected to the motor 26 or confirming the elapse of a preset time.

When the IC 21 whose position is corrected as described above is sensed by the second sensor 30, the control circuit 34 starts to count the pulses generated from the encoder 27. When the counted pulses reach a value corresponding to an amount of movement Sa of the stainless steel belt 25, the control circuit 34 determines that the IC 21 has been transferred just below the first adsorption device 31a of the adsorption unit 32 and causes the air source 33 to suck the air in the adsorption device 31a. With this operation, the IC 21 which is about to pass just below the first adsorption device 31a is adsorbed to and held by the adsorption device 31a. At this time, the held IC 21 is located upwardly of the surface of the stainless steel belt 25 by a predetermined distance so that the next IC 21 can pass below the IC 21.

The ICs 21 successively transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 are centered by the correction unit 28 in the same way, then sensed by the second sensor 30 and the control circuit 34 starts to count the pulses from the encoder 27 again. When the counted pulses have a value corresponding to an amount of movement Sb of the stainless steel belt 25, the control circuit 34 causes the air source 33 to suck the air in the second adsorption device 31b of the adsorption unit 32. With this operation, the IC 21 which is about to pass just below the second adsorption device 31b is adsorbed to and held by the adsorption device 31b.

In the same manner, a plurality of the ICs 21 placed on the stainless steel belt 25 by the first adsorption unit 24 are successively centered by the correction unit 28 and sensed by the second sensor 30, then adsorbed to and held by the corresponding adsorption devices of the second adsorption unit 32 at the positions where they have been transferred by the number of corresponding pulses, respectively. Note, the disposition pitch of the adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . of the second adsorption unit 32 is preset to the same value as that of the disposition pitch of the sockets 18 of a board 17 in which the ICs 21 having been disposed are to be accommodated.

Thereafter, the second adsorption unit 32 is moved by the not shown moving unit and the suction of the air in the respective adsorption devices of the adsorption unit 32 is stopped by the air source 33 so that a plurality of the ICs 21 held by the adsorption unit 32 are simultaneously fallen into the corresponding positioning grooves 13 of a positioning block 12, respectively. A plurality of the ICs 21 positioned as described above are adsorbed to and held again by the respective adsorption devices of the adsorption unit 32 and simultaneously accommodated in the corresponding IC sockets 18 on the board 17 placed beside the positioning block 12. In FIG. 1, numeral 14 denotes a lid opening/closing jig for opening and closing the lids of the sockets 18 on the board 17.

FIG. 2 shows the first adsorption unit 24. The adsorption unit 24 has a mounting plate 40 provided with a rail 41 formed on the surface thereof and a plurality of the adsorption devices 23a, 23b, 23c are fixed to the rail 41 by use of set screws 58, respectively. The respective adsorption devices can be moved along the rail 41 by loosening the set screws 58, whereby a pith P3 between the adjacent adsorption devices can be set to an arbitrary value.

The mounting plate 40 is detachably fixed to blocks 37 provided with LM (linear motion) guides 36 by hooks 38 and mount pins 39. FIG. 3 shows a portion mounted to the block 37 in detail. The mount pin 39 is threaded with the block 37 and the hook 38 is located in the groove 60 defined to the mount pin 39 so that the mounting plate 40 is fixed to the block 37 together with the hook 38 by the mount pin 39.

When the mount pin 39 shown in FIG. 4 is loosened and can be removed from the groove 60 of the mount pin 39. As shown in FIG. 5, when the mounting plate 40 is pulled in parallel with the mount pin 39 in this state, the adsorption unit 24 can be removed from the block 37. On the other hand, when the adsorption unit 24 is to be mounted on the block 37, the mounting plate 40 is pressed against the block 37 using the mount pin 39 as a guide and the hook 38 is rotated and inserted into the groove 60 of the mount pin 39. Further, when the mount pin 39 is tightened, the mounting plate 40 is fixed to the block 37 together with the hook 38.

The second adsorption unit 32 also has the same structure as that of the aforesaid first adsorption unit 24.

Next, FIG. 6 shows the respective adsorption devices mounted on the first and second units 24 and 32 in detail. Guides 46, 47 are fixed to the upper portion and the lower portion of the passing-through hole defined to a housing 56, respectively and a hollow portion 56a is formed between the guides 47 and 46. An adsorption tube 42 is slidably disposed by passing through the guides 47 and 46, respectively. In FIG. 6, numeral 43 denotes a bearing to ease the sliding of the adsorption tube 42. A locking ring 44 is attached to the outer periphery of adsorption tube 42 located in the hollow portion 56a and a spring 45 surrounding the adsorption tube 42 is disposed between the locking ring 44 and the lower surface of the upper guide 47. The locking ring 44 is pressed against the upper surface of the lower guide 46 by the spring 45. A rubber pad 48 is attached to the outer periphery of the upper portion of the adsorption tube 42 passing through the upper guide 47. An air hose fixture 49 is fixed to the upper portion of the upper guide 47 so that an air reservoir 51 is formed between the upper guide 47 and the fixture 49. The uppermost portion of the adsorption tube 42 and the rubber pad 48 are located in the air reservoir 51.

The housing 56 is fixed to the rail 41 of the mounting plate 40 by use of the set screw 58. An air port 59 is defined to the mounting plate 40 to connect the upper surface thereof to the back surface thereof in contact with the block 37 and an air hose 50 is disposed between the upper surface of the mounting plate 40 and the air hose fixture 49, whereby the air reservoir 51 is connected to the air port 51. An O ring 52 is disposed to the outer periphery of the air port 59 opened to the back surface of the mounting plate 40. On the other hand, an air port 54 is also defined to the block 37 to which the mounting plate 40 is fixed and a nozzle 53 is attached to an end of the air port 54. When the mounting plate 40 is abutted against the block 37, the nozzle 53 is inserted into the O ring 52 so that the air port 54 can be easily connected to the air port 59. The air source 33 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the other end of the air port 54 of the block 37.

Next, operation of the adsorption device will be described. When the IC 21 transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 reaches just below the adsorption tube 42, air is sucked from the air port 54 by the air source 33 so that the air reservoir 51 and the interior of the adsorption tube 42 are evacuated through the air port 59 and the air hose 50. Consequently, the IC 21 is sucked toward the adsorption tube 42 and adsorbed to and held by the lower end of the adsorption tube 42. At this time, since a gap 55 formed between the adsorption tube 42 and the IC 21 is shut off, a degree of vacuum in the interior of the adsorption tube 42 and in the air reservoir 51 increases. Thus, the adsorption tube 42 is sucked upward at the time when a force caused by vacuum is made greater than the pressure of the spring 45 and the adsorption tube 42 is moved upward while adsorbing and holding the IC 21 until the rubber pad 48 comes into contact with the air hose fixture 49 as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, the next IC 21 transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 passes just below the IC 21 adsorbed to and held by the adsorption tube 42 and can reach the position of another adsorption device.

As described above, the adsorption units 24 and 32 used in the embodiment t can be easily mounted on and dismounted from the block 37 of the adsorption unit as well as can be simply connected to the air source 33 by the O ring 52 and the nozzle 53. Further, a pitch between the heads of a plurality of the adsorption devices in the adsorption units can be easily changed.

Next, FIG. 8 shows the correction unit 28 in detail. A mounting base 75 is disposed below the stainless steel belt 25 and an LM (linear motion) guide 66 is formed on the mounting base 75 in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the stainless steel belt 25 moves. A pair of blocks 62 are slidably disposed to the LM guide 66 and a guide plate 61 is fixed onto each of the blocks 62 by a bolt 63. The block 62 can be aligned with the guide plate 61 by inserting a guide pin 65 provided with the block 62 into the guide hole 64 defined to the guide plate 61.

Each of the blocks 62 is connected to a disk plate 72 through a first arm 67 and a second arm 70 and an actuator 74 is connected to the disk plate 72. An end of the first arm 67 is connected to a roller 69 provided with the block 62, the intermediate portion thereof is rotatably supported by a fulcrum 68, and the other end thereof is rotatably connected to an end of the second arm 70 through a fulcrum 71. The other end of the second arm 70 is rotatably connected to the disk plate 72 through a fulcrum 73. A pair of the guide plates 61 are moved above the stainless steel belt 25 in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the stainless steel belt 25 moves by driving the actuator 74 as shown in FIG. 9.

Operation of the correction unit 28 will be described. When the IC 21 transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 is sensed by the first sensor 29, the control circuit 34 drives the actuator 74 at the time when the IC 21 is supposed to reach between a pair of the guide plates 61. With this operation, the disk plate 72 rotates 180° in the direction shown by an arrow as shown in FIG. 9. First, the second arm 70 is pushed by the distance corresponding to the rotational radius of the fulcrum 73 provided with the disk plate 72 by the initial rotation of 90° so that the first arm 67 rotates about the fulcrum 68 and the roller 69 swings. More specifically, a pair of the guide platels 61 approach to each other together with the blocks 62 so that the IC 21 placed on the stainless steel belt 25 is centered to the center in the width direction of the stainless steel belt 25 by being pushed by the guide plates 61. When the disk plate 72 further rotates 90°, the first arm 67 and the roller 69 returns to the original positions thereof and a pair of the guide plates 61 go away from each other.

Since the disk plate 72 makes a rotational motion, the guide plates 61 moves along a sine wave. Consequently, only a small impact is applied from the guide plates 61 to the IC 21 in correction, thus the IC 21 can be centered without being scratched.

The ICs 21 can be also securely adsorbed and held in such a manner that the position of each IC 21, which has been placed by the first adsorption unit 24, in the width direction of the stainless steel belt 25 is sensed and the second adsorption unit 32 is moved in the width direction of the stainless steel belt 25 according to the position of the each sensed IC 21, in place of centering the IC 21 by the correction unit 28.

In the embodiment 1, although a plurality of the ICs 21 are simultaneously held by means of the first adsorption unit 24 and successively-supplied onto the stainless steel belt 25, the present invention is not limited to this arrangement. The ICs 21 are centered by the correction unit 28 and then adsorbed and held after having been sensed by the second sensor 30 and transferred by the predetermined amounts of movement of Sa, Sb, Sc . . . Consequently, even if the ICs 21 are placed on the upstream side of the stainless steel belt 25 one by one or even if a plurality of the ICs 21 are placed thereon at random, they are securely adsorbed to and held by the second adsorption unit 32.

Further, although the ICs 21 are successively adsorbed to and held by a plurality of the adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . of the second adsorption unit 32 in the order of them located nearer to the upstream side of the direction in which the ICs 21 are transferred by the stainless steel belt 25, the present invention is not limited to this disposition, and for example, the ICs 21 may be successively held by the adsorption devices in the order of them located nearer to the downstream side of the direction in which the ICs 21 are transferred.

Embodiment 2

Although the embodiment 1 uses the stainless steel belt 25 driven by the motor 26 as the transfer means, a belt 76 composed of a dielectric material such as a metal, resin or the like other than the stainless steel belt may be driven as shown in FIG. 10. Any material may be used as a material of the belt 76 unless it does not scratch the leads of the IC 21 to be transferred.

Embodiment 3

As shown in FIG. 11, sensors 77a, 77b, 77c . . . for sensing the arrival of the ICs 21 are disposed in the vicinity of the adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . of the second adsorption unit 32, respectively and these sensors 77a, 77b, 77c . . . may be used as sensing means of the present invention. More specifically, when the respective sensors 77a, 77b, 77c . . . sense the ICs 21 transferred on the stainless steel belt 25, the sensors output sensing signals to the control circuit 34 to cause the respective corresponding adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . to absorb the sensed ICs 21 through the air source 33. With this disposition, the pulses from the encoder 27 need not be read.

When, however, the ICs 21 are sensed by the sensors 77a, 77b, 77c . . . in the vicinity of the respective adsorption devices 31a, 31b, 31c . . . as well as the ICs 21 are sensed by the second sensor 30 and the pulses from the encoder 27 are counted as described in the embodiment 1 and a result of detection by the sensors 77a, 77b, 77c . . . is verified by the count of the pulses, the ICs 21 can be more securely adsorbed and held.

Embodiment 4

Although the embodiment 1 adsorbs and holds the ICs 21 by vacuum by using he adsorption devices as the holding means, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the IC 21 may be mechanically held by the claws 79 of a mechanical chuck 78. When the IC 21 is held by the claws 79 and then the mechanical chuck 78 is lifted up by a cylinder 80 together with the IC 21, the next IC 21 transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 can pass below the lifted IC 21.

Embodiment 5

When an article such as the IC 21 and the like can be held by magnetic force, an electromagnet 81 may be used as the holding means as shown in FIG. 13. When the article is held by the electromagnet 81 and then the electromagnet 81 is lifted up by the cylinder 80, the next article transferred on the stainless steel belt 25 can pass below the lifted article also in this case.

Embodiment 6

FIG. 14 shows a practically usable IC disposition apparatus. A first adsorption unit 24 is disposed at an end of a stainless steel belt 25 and further a correction unit 28 and a second adsorption unit 32 are disposed along the stainless steel belt 25, respectively. A plurality of accommodation units 4, which accommodate ICs therein, respectively, are stacked up and disposed in the vicinity of the first adsorption unit 24 and a motor 82 is provided to adjust a height of the uppermost accommodation unit 4 to the adsorption unit 24. Further, a stocker 83 for storing a board 17 is disposed in the vicinity of the second adsorption unit 32.

Further, a correction unit 84 similar to the correction unit 28 is disposed at other end of the stainless steel belt 25 and an IC supply unit 85 is disposed adjacent to the correction unit 84. The first adsorption unit 24 supplies the ICs accommodated in the flat-shaped accommodation units onto the stainless steel belt 25, whereas the IC supply unit 85 supplies the ICs accommodated in a tube onto the other end of the stainless steel belt 25. When the ICs are to be taken out from the tube for disposition by means of the IC supply unit 85, a motor 26 is driven in a reverse direction to supply the ICs from the IC supply unit 85 onto the other end of the stainless steel belt 25. The ICs are centered by the correction unit 84 and adsorbed to and held by the second adsorption unit 32 in the same operation as that of the embodiment 1.

Although the above embodiments are described mainly with reference to the ICs as articles to be arranged, the present invention is not limited thereto but may be applicable to any articles so long as they can be transferred by transfer means and held by holding means. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An article disposition apparatus comprising:transfer means for transferring articles; sensing means for sensing the passing of said articles transferred by said transfer means; supply means for capturing said articles disposed and accommodated at a first pitch in a first accommodating unit and moving said articles to said transfer means, said supply means including a plurality of first holding devices disposed apart from each other at a predetermined first pitch in the direction of transfer carried out by said transfer means; holding means including a plurality of second holding devices disposed apart from each other at a predetermined second pitch in the direction of transfer carried out by said transfer means for removing said articles transferred by said transfer means and disposing and accommodating said articles to a second accommodation unit at the predetermined second pitch; and control means communicating with said supply means and said holding means for controlling said supply means to capture and move said articles and for controlling said plurality of second holding devices so that said articles being transferred are held by said plurality of holding devices in response to the passing of said articles sensed by said sensing means.
 2. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transfer means includes a belt on which said articles are placed and a motor for driving said belt.
 3. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 2, further including a correction unit for centering said articles transferred on said belt to the center in the width direction of said belt.
 4. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said correction unit includes a pair of guide plates which move on said belt in the width direction of said belt.
 5. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 3, further including a first sensor disposed on the upstream side of said correction unit with respect to the movement of said belt for sensing the passing of said articles on said belt and driving said correction unit.
 6. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said sensing means includes a second sensor disposed on the downstream side of said correction unit with respect to the movement of said belt.
 7. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said supply means includes a plurality of first adsorption devices each adsorbing and holding an article by vacuum.
 8. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said plurality of first adsorption devices are disposed movably along a rail provided with a mounting plate and fixed to said rail by set screws, respectively.
 9. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 7, wherein each of said plurality of first adsorption devices includes a housing, an adsorption tube slidably provided with said housing and having an end projecting from said housing to the outside thereof and a spring for urging said adsorption tube so that the end of said adsorption tube is projected to the outside of said housing and said adsorption tube is slid toward the other end thereof against the urging force of said spring in sucking operation.
 10. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said holding means includes a plurality of second adsorption devices for adsorbing and holding articles transferred by said transfer means by vacuum.
 11. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each of said plurality of second adsorption devices includes a housing, an adsorption tube slidably provided with said housing and having an end projecting from said housing to the outside thereof and a spring for urging said adsorption tube so that the end of said adsorption tube is projected to the outside of said housing and said adsorption tube is slid toward the other end thereof against the urging force of said spring in sucking operation.
 12. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said holding devices is a mechanical chuck for mechanically holding articles transferred by said transfer means.
 13. The article disposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said holding devices is an electromagnet for holding articles transferred by said transfer means by magnetic force.
 14. An article disposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sensing means includes a plurality of sensing units disposed in the vicinity of said respective corresponding holding means. 